The 30-year-old, who played 21 matches for the Reds in 2007-08 before making a name overseas, is set to bring the mongrel and starch Queensland is lacking without James Horwill and Rebels recruit Scott Higginbotham.

O'Donoghue bulked up in his four years playing with Ulster and Leinster, and his size and physicality won him the nod, ahead of Adam Wallace-Harrison, to take on NSW's monster pack.

"We're playing the Wallaby forward pack basically, and it's a massive one at that, if (prop Jeremy) Tilse comes in they have four guys over 120kg so it's a big challenge," McKenzie said.

"Ed's learned a lot in Europe. He does all the fundamentals of forward play really well. He's a very good scrummager, lineout, mauling and he runs really good lines."

It's a fairytale return for O'Donoghue whose career was set to end last year before enquiring whether McKenzie was interested in him training with the Reds College, merely as a back-up to Queensland's contracted 35-man squad.

Injuries to captain James Horwill, David McDuling and Radike Samo have since paved the way for him to follow the same path which barman flanker Beau Robinson trod in 2011.

But O'Donoghue, to team with 50-gamer Rob Simmons in the second-row, felt it would be a full team effort of the Reds pack to nullify the bigger NSW forwards.

"The real weapon will be the coaching and the game plan," he said. "With the Reds the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

For all of the talk about a more expansive Waratahs game plan, McKenzie is prepared for counterpart Michael Cheika to take a pragmatic approach and play to their obvious strength up front where the likes of Wycliff Palu, Sitaleki Timani and Tatafu Polota-Nau thrive.

O'Donoghue is one of two Reds selection surprises, with boom youngster Chris Feauai-Sautia starting at outside centre with Anthony Faingaa unable to recover from his hand injury.

Feauai-Sautia has overcome a litany of hamstring injuries dating well back into his schoolboy days to show his flair and strength in the Reds pre-season and made an impact off the bench in the 24-6 loss to the Brumbies.

Reds teammates have nicknamed the 19-year-old "Beast Mode" and McKenzie likened him to playmaker Quade Cooper in the way he habitually makes things happen.

"They're two guys with instinct playing. They just turn up in the right spot and the ball arrives," the coach said.

"I think Quade will look forward to giving him the ball."

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